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9 Tips for Opening Your Own Etsy Store

Creative minds everywhere have turned to the incredibly popular online marketplace, Etsy, to showcase their design knowledge and handmade crafting skills, as well as make some good money on the side. Those who enjoy creating handmade items or collecting vintage pieces can easily step into the Etsy scene and make a killing, but there is definitely a method to the Etsy madness. Increased competition and growing demands have made selling even harder, but with these nine tips you too can open up your Etsy store and become a great success.

So you’ve decided to start a shop on Etsy, but the big question is what will you call it? Choosing a name that people will recognize and like is tough, but not impossible. Your Etsy shop name should reflect your style and personality. If you want to sell vintage-inspired pieces, then your name might resemble something of another era. If you make modern, futuristic items, then you might want to pick an odd but memorable name. Most of all, you want your shop name to be original, recognizable, and very searchable.

Cohesiveness is the key to your Etsy success. Your shop should have a consistent theme and style that appeals to customers of various likes and preferences. Ideally, you want customers to visit your shop looking for a particular item and leave buying (or simply wanting) more. If you keep your line cohesive, then many things will appeal to your customers and they’ll be more likely to return to your store and share it with others. It may take some time to get your shop to feel cohesive and interrelated, but keeping your main theme and style in mind while adding new items will definitely help this process.

Etsy buyers and sellers are detail-oriented people who truly appreciate the little things in life. Knowing this, it might be worth your while to put a little extra thought into the way you present your items online and in person. While you can’t do much about ugly shipping boxes, you can go the extra step and pack them with nice tissue paper, colorful stuffing, or a sweet handwritten thank you card. In most online shopping circumstances, these small details don’t make a lick of difference in the customer’s eyes, but on Etsy, they do! If you make your products and customer service uniquely special, the customers will keep coming back for more.

Anyone who’s ever bought anything on Etsy knows that photography can make or break your sale. A description alone does not make up for the fact that the shopper cannot see, touch, or feel the item in person. Therefore, it’s all the more important that you take clear, accurate, and detailed pictures of your products. The photos can help communicate the overall size, shape, color, texture, and quality of your items and will hopefully reduce the chance of returns and customer confusion, thanks to your precise photography.

If your shop is memorable, they will come back. The more effort you put into dressing up your Etsy shop and making it look awesome, the more customers will appreciate your line and come back to visit. One way to make your shop stand out from the others is to design a creative and eye-catching banner and avatar. They add visual elements to your identity, complement your username, and give a more personal touch to your shop. Also, don’t forget to create a unique and well-constructed profile that gives shoppers a better idea of who you are, what your style is, and how you do business.

When the time comes to write an item description, you might find that it’s harder than it looks. Artists and customers often look for very different things when considering an item. Artists tend to focus on an item’s specifications, while customers usually put more emphasis on what the product means to them and how it will complement their life. If sellers want to be more in tune with their customers and get them to buy their products, they will need to write descriptions that reflect the customers’ desires before their own. Be mindful of how much info you’re adding to your description, and consider how it may help (or hurt) the chances of making a sale.

Before you launch your Etsy store, you’d better make sure your ducks are in a row. From the way you create and store your products at home to the way you keep track of sales and returns, you need to get organized. Create checklists and daily to-dos to help you accomplish important tasks every day and set reminders to make sure you send out orders in time and mark them as shipped. The more organized you are the better you’ll be able to handle the stresses of owning a business and balancing a personal life.

There’s a lot of debate surrounding the pricing of items on Etsy. Some sellers are notorious for pricing their items too low without doing enough research on what other similar Etsy sellers are charging. If you underprice your products, they may not sell well and you may not get your money back. The same goes for overpricing your products. In most cases, it’s easier to lower prices than raise them, but there are several factors to consider before putting a price on anything. Does your item contain high-quality, expensive materials? How long did it take to construct? Are you a beginner or experienced artist? Once you’ve analyzed some of these pricing factors, you might have a good argument for raising your prices. If you decide to do so, make this information known to your customers.

Promote! Promote! Promote! We can’t stress this enough. If you want your Etsy shop to be a success, then you’re going to have to get the word out there yourself and with the help of your loyal friends and family. One of the easiest ways to do this is to get on Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and dozens of other websites to share your work with others and increase your customer following. The great thing about being online is just that- it’s online and you can reach anyone, anywhere – Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Virginia, Vermont, etc. Don’t wait around for word of mouth to make you an Etsy star, get your awesome creations noticed fast with the help of these social media sites and other networking outlets.